From our correspondent in Cairo,
In Cairo’s traffic chaos, taxis don’t even bother to take the usual precautions. “We have no freedom in Egypt. We’ve had enough of Sissi! This sentence would have been unthinkable in recent years, since the Raïs rules the most populous country in the Arab world with an iron fist.
Strictly speaking, complaints about the declining standard of living would have been possible, Egypt is experiencing runaway inflation has increased by 33% in less than a year, while more than a third of the 105 million population live below the poverty line. But the question of freedom was not a priority as long as the Egyptians could support themselves.
“Security at the expense of freedom”
“When Sisi took power in 2013, there were many attacks,” recalls Mohamed Lotfi, director of the human rights NGO Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedom (ECRF), one of the last in Egypt. So many people have chosen security at the expense of freedom. »
Then Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sissi presents himself to the Egyptians as the savior from the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood, embodied by Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president in Egyptian history. At the time, “they nevertheless amended and modified the constitution and added articles that would allow for the establishment of an Islamic state and a religious state.” All of this greatly embarrassed the majority of the Egyptian people, who took to the streets to bring power to the Muslim Brotherhood snatch,” analyzes Amr Alshobaky, a specialist in political Islam.
Mohamed Morsi was elected almost a year ago and was overthrown and imprisoned on July 3, 2013. For more than a month, in the middle of Ramadan and in the sweltering heat of July in Cairo, his followers gathered to demand the return of the fallen Rais. wasted effort. From August 14 to 16, the military regime will open fire on demonstrators gathered in Rabia El Adaouïa Square. Result: According to the Egyptian authorities, at least 638 people were killed. The NGO Human Rights Watch called it “the largest massacre in modern Egyptian history.”
The state of emergency is quickly declared again and the Muslim Brotherhood is classified as a “terrorist organization”. Mass processes are increasing. For human rights defenders, who still felt the whiff of the “Arab Spring”, the return to the reality of the military regime is painful. From now on anyone who criticizes the power of Sisi or the army is in danger. “The country has been operating without any local government for ten years,” explains Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). The government uses incarceration as its primary tool of government. These are not just political prisoners, but the entire population that is being held hostage. Anyone can be arrested. Once you are in prison there is no legal process and you do not know when you will be released. »
Third term in office
governing by fear. According to human rights NGOs, there are now 60,000 political prisoners in Egyptian prisons, a number officially disputed by the authorities. Mohamed Morsi will die in prison in 2019.
A year before the presidential elections, Raïs Sissi wants to run for a third term and has decided to start a major national dialogue. “In reality it is a mosaic of monologues, not a dialogue,” says Mohamed Lotfi. In order to participate, we demanded commitments from the government, particularly on the release of political prisoners. Between April 2022 and April 2023 there were actually 1,600 releases. But at the same time, 3,600 were arrested. That’s 2000 more! That’s why we refused to take part in this masquerade. »
While the right to choose words in Egypt is very limited, particularly due to the country’s economic crisis, the presidential elections in 2024 are under close scrutiny from Egypt’s partners. Leading the way is the United States and the European Union, anxious to maintain a semblance of stability in this country of 105 million people at the crossroads of a region shaken by political crises.
Without credible resistance, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has a path ahead of him to remain in power. However: “Sissi accepts no criticism, he believes he was sent by God to save the country,” said Hossam Bahgat. And because the President has decided to destroy state institutions and regulate everything himself, he is now solely responsible for the situation in Egypt. »
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